The Story And Significance Of Dutch Clark - Best Quarterback Of The 1930s

Dutch Clark, sometimes also known as the "Flying Dutchman" and the "Old Master", was an American football player and coach, basketball player and coach, and university athletic director. He played professionally in the National Football League with the Portsmouth Spartans/Detroit Lions from 1931 to 1938. He was selected as the first-team All-Pro quarterback six times, was named by the United Press (UP) as the best player in the NFL in both 1935 and 1936, led the Lions to the 1935 NFL championship, and led the NFL in total offense in 1934 and scoring in 1932, 1935, and 1936. In his final two seasons with the Lions, he also served as the team's head coach. In 1940, he was selected by the Associated Press (AP) as the outstanding football player of the 1930s.

In May 1931, Clark was granted a leave of absence from his coaching responsibilities at Colorado College to allow him to play for the Portsmouth Spartans in the National Football League, with the understanding that he would return to coach the school's basketball team when the Spartans' season was over. The Spartans compiled an 11–3 record in 1931, good for second place in the NFL. Clark appeared in 11 games and was the team's leading scorer with 60 points on nine touchdowns and six extra points. He ranked third in the NFL in scoring and was selected as the first-team All-Pro quarterback. Clark was actually the leading scorer in the NFL when he secured permission to leave the team early to resume his coaching responsibilities with the Colorado College basketball team.
Clark returned to the Spartans in the fall of 1932 and led the team to a 6–2–4 record and third place in the NFL. Clark led the NFL with 581 rushing yards; he also led the league with 55 points scored, 10 extra points, and three field goals. For the second consecutive year, he was selected as the first-team All-Pro quarterback. In December 1932, United Press sportswriter George Kirksey rated Clark as the greatest football player of the past 10 years.

Despite his success during the 1931 and 1932 NFL seasons, Clark returned to Colorado College as the school's head basketball coach at the end of the 1932 season. Then, in March 1933, he surprised followers of the professional game by announcing that he would not return to the NFL in 1933, having elected instead to serve as the head football coach for the Colorado School of Mines. Clark signed with the Detroit Lions in May 1934 and joined the team for training camp at the end of August. The Portsmouth Spartans moved to Detroit and became the Lions in 1934.

Clark was the quarterback for the 1934 Detroit Lions team that compiled a 10–3 record and finished in second place in the NFL West behind the undefeated Chicago Bears. Clark led the NFL in 1934 with 1,146 yards of total offense and eight rushing touchdowns and ranked among the leaders with 73 points scored (second), 763 rushing yards (third), and 383 passing yards (fourth). At the end of the 1934 season, Clark was selected as the first-team All-Pro quarterback for the third time in three years playing in the NFL.

In August 1935, Clark was selected by his Detroit teammates as the team captain without a dissenting vote. As quarterback and captain, Clark led the 1935 Detroit Lions to the NFL championship. Clark led the NFL with 55 points scored and 16 extra points. Clark later cited the Lions' 13–0 victory over the Bears on Thanksgiving Day as his most memorable game. In that game, Clark scored both Detroit touchdowns, the first on a pass from Bill Shepherd and the second when he rolled out on a flanker play and took a lateral pass 21 yards into the end zone. In the 1935 NFL Championship Game, Clark had a 42-yard run for a touchdown in the second quarter, as the Lions defeated the New York Giants, 26–7.

On January 1, 1936, Clark led the Lions to a 33–0 victory over an all-star team in the first professional football game played in Denver. Clark scored two touchdowns in the game, including a 52-yard touchdown run.

After the 1935 season, Clark was again selected as the first-team All Pro quarterback; the United Press also selected him as the best player in the NFL, calling him the "keenest football strategist", the "most dangerous one-man threat", "a fine drop-kicker and a deadly tackler." The Los Angeles Times noted that Clark "has been acclaimed as the greatest back in the history of the game." Another writer said he had "the nimblest legs in football" and called him the modern back who comes "nearest to perfection"." Red Grange called Clark "the hardest man in football to tackle" and noted: "His change of pace fools the best tacklers." Lions' head coach Potsy Clark cited intelligence and leadership as the factors that separated Clark from others.

In February 1936, Clark announced that, despite the successful 1935 season, he might quit professional football. He noted that time had slowed him, and he preferred pursuing a business career in his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado. He took a job as the general manager of the Colorado State Fair, but wrote to the Lions in June advising that he had been granted a leave of absence to rejoin the club in August, with time to prepare for the Chicago College All-Star Game set for September 1.

During the 1936 NFL season, Clark led the Lions to an 8–4 record, third-best in the NFL. For the third time in his career, Clark led the NFL in scoring with 73 points, Clark's tally coming on seven touchdowns, 19 extra points, and four field goals. He ranked second in the league with 1,095 yards of total offense. He also ranked among the NFL's leaders with 628 rushing yards (third) and 467 passing yards (sixth). For the fifth time in five years of NFL play, he was selected as the first-team All-Pro quarterback. The United Press also selected Clark as the most valuable player in the NFL.

At the end of the 1936 season, Clark announced that he intended to pursue a coaching position for the 1937 season. Three weeks after Clark's announcement, the Lions' head coach Potsy Clark resigned to accept the head coaching job with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Dutch Clark was signed the next day as the Lions' head coach, adding coaching duties to his pre-existing duties as player and team captain.
During the 1937 season, Clark finished among the NFL leaders with five rushing touchdowns (first), 4.9 yards per rushing attempt (second), 468 rushing yards (fourth), and 45 points scored (fourth). For the Lions' 1937 Thanksgiving Day game against the Bears, the team held a "Dutch Clark Day". Before a capacity crowd of 26,000, the Lions presented Clark with an automobile, and his wife received a platinum wristwatch set with diamonds. After the game, a punishing loss, Clark announced his retirement as a player.

After the 1937 season, Clark was named the first-team All-Pro quarterback for the sixth time. In polling of 27 sports editors in NFL cities, Clark led all other players with 25 first-team votes.
In May 1938, Clark announced that he was open to playing during the 1938 season, though he intended to play "as little as possible," and not at all if the Lions could secure the services of a satisfactory quarterback. Bill Shepherd took over as the club's starting quarterback in 1938, and Clark appeared only briefly in six games, carrying the ball seven times and completing six of 12 passes. In his career, Clark was a first-team All Pro every year he was a full time starter which shows how dominant he was in the 1930s. During his eight years as a player in the NFL, Clark appeared in 75 games, totaled 2,772 rushing yards, 1,507 passing yards, and 341 receiving yards, scored 42 touchdowns, kicked 72 extra points and 15 field goals, and totaled 369 points scored. He held the NFL's career scoring record at the time of his retirement.